Skeet Ulrich won’t return to the “Scream” franchise following Melissa Barrera’s firing in 2023.
Ulrich – who played Billy Loomis, one of the two Ghostface killers in the original horror film – told Us Weekly that he would not be completing a planned 3-film story because of Barrera’s removal from the franchise. He won’t come back without her – as she played his daughter and appeared to her in hallucinations.
“Without Melissa Barrera and Sam Loomis, there’s no Billy Loomis,” Ulrich said in the interview published Tuesday. “He was in her head. They had their chance at it and didn’t quite get to complete the three-film arc that they talked to me about.”
Back in 2023, Barrera took to social media to call for a cease-fire in Gaza and criticized Israel’s conduct in its war with Hamas. Shortly after her posts, “Scream” producer Spyglass issued a statement saying that it did not support Barrera’s posts and that she was being cut from “Scream 7.”
The firing led to a massive shakeup of the film. Director Christopher Landon and co-star Jenna Ortega also left the film following Barrera’s departure. The story was then reworked to focus on Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott and her daughter as they are hunted by a new Ghostface.
Ulrich is not the only “Scream” alum to talk about Barrera’s firing recently. Matthew Lillard – who played the other Ghostface killer from the original film – also spoke out on his return to the franchise after the actress was removed and how in hindsight he was disappointed in himself for doing it.
“I went back to do ‘Scream,’ and I got called out,” he said last month while speaking at a 30th anniversary screening. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, f–k. That’s brutal.’ I feel bad about that. I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and that journey. I didn’t say no. I’m embarrassed; that’s the truth … I blew that. I’m on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie. It may not have been the best idea.”
